The Color of Money (Blu-ray)

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All Rise...

Judge Mike Rubino hustles people at MegaTouch.

The Charge

"Nine-Ball is rotation pool, the balls are pocketed in numbered order. The
only ball that means anything, that wins it, is the 9. Now, the player can shoot
eight trick shots in a row, blow the 9, and lose. On the other hand, the player
can get the 9 in on the break, if the balls spread right, and win. Which is to
say, that luck plays a part in nine-ball. But for some players, luck itself is
an art."

Opening Statement

Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning film about pool hustling celebrates its 25th
Anniversary with an unceremonious Blu-ray release.

Facts of the Case

In this sequel to Robert Rossen's The
Hustler, Paul Newman reprises his role as "Fast Eddie" Felson, a pool shark
who retired from the game to sell whiskey. When Eddie meets untamed talent
Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise, Top Gun)
and his street-smart girlfriend Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, The Abyss), he sees a reason to get back in the
game.

Eddie takes Vincent under his wing, acting as a stakehorse and a trainer in
the fine art of hustling. Together, the three plan on playing all the way to the
Atlantic City 9-Ball Tournament. After more than a few failed attempts at
reigning in Vincent, Fast Eddie decides to strike out on his own and win the
tournament himself.

The Color of Money is based on the 1984 novel by Walter Tevis, who
also wrote The Hustler (1959). Paul Newman won an Oscar for his
performance.

The Evidence

Scorsese's opening voiceover concludes with the line "for some players, luck
itself is an art." If you're a great pool player, you know all the tricks. You
know how to put English on the ball, or how to jump two to sink one. And you
especially know how to hustle a guy out of some cash. The Color of Money
is filled with this stuff, sure, but it's also loaded with subtly devastating
filmmaking tricks. This may be considered one of Scorsese's "minor" films, but
he's still a master hustler when it comes to camera work, atmosphere, and
storytelling.

The Color of Money is both an excellent sports film and an engaging
look into one of America's easily forgotten underbellies. It's easy to see why,
when the movie was released in 1986, there was a renewed interest in 9-ball and
billiards. It looks cool; the guys playing it are confident, rich, and
dangerous; and just a glimpse into this world of second-floor gambling and
sportsmanship is enough to make anyone want to start hustling. But it's the
dichotomy between Eddie the old guard gentleman, and Vincent the young obnoxious
buffoon, that pushes the story forward…and pushes Eddie out of retirement
for one last go at glory.

Newman is spectacular as the reserved, often repressed, veteran. He hides
behind his sunglasses, and uses his pride as a shield against most
things—until he breaks down at the hands of a young Forest Whitaker! Tom
Cruise, who made this movie in the midst of his big '80s run of blockbusters,
couldn't have been better as the unhinged, arrogant youngster. Caught between
both these guys is Mastrantonio, who walks a fine line between strong and
reckless. Many of the other supporting roles are filled by real life pool
players, giving Scorsese's game sequences some added reality. There's not a weak
ball in this rack.

The Color of Money is quite possibly the best looking billiards movie
ever made. Scorsese takes a simple game and dresses it up with some of the
slickest and most subtle camera tricks imaginable. Sure, if you made a pool
movie nowadays, you could swoop around the table and beneath it easily with CGI
or a tiny HD camera. Scorsese is pulling this stuff off with a mid '80s film
camera. He's composing long takes where Newman and Cruise sink two or three
shots in a row. He cuts montages with an almost musical rhythm. And when we
arrive at the Atlantic City 9-Ball tournament, Scorsese pulls off an epic crane
shot that will have you chanting "go! go! go!" until it stops. The film can be
flashy, like the thunderous crash every time Newman breaks or when Scorsese
decides to speed ramp the games, but it also has moments where good
craftsmanship takes over. It's a delight.

Too bad, then, that Disney is the real shark here. This "25th Anniversary
Edition" Blu-ray features an awful video transfer and zero special features.
This 1.85:1/1080p print hasn't been cleaned up a lick. While the film grain is
fine, there's a fair amount of digital artifacts, especially apparent during
quick movement and pans. Worse is the coloration: the shadows, most noticeably
on the actors' faces, are soft and muddy. For a film basking in pools of light,
smoke, and shadow, the transfer could have used some serious fine tuning. The
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio—with its killer soundtrack and nice atmospheric
surrounds—earns its stripes, but this catalog release is just plain sloppy
and deserves better. There are no extras.

Closing Statement

The Color of Money is a wonderfully-crafted entry in Martin Scorsese's
filmography. Though not as loud and aggressive as his other work, it's just as
well-made and features a rock solid cast. It's a film definitely worth seeing,
but don't go out of your way to purchase this Blu-ray.